William looked at Joy. But Joy was shaking her head. “Never heard that name before.”
“That’s probably because you weren’t the target,” Max said.
Joy was surprised. William was too. “I wasn’t?” she said.
“No ma’am,” said Max. “Mr. Skeffington was the target.”
Joy’s heart dropped. William’s heart leaped. “Thank God!” he said.
Joy to looked at him as if he’d lost his mind. But William wasn’t about to take it back. “What made you reach that conclusion?” he asked Max.
“We found surveillance tapes of your comings and goings at his residence. And maps of your route from home to work. We surmised that since Miss Johnson was driving your Porsche, it was a case of mistaken identity. They thought you were behind that wheel.”
“I see.”
“And also,” Max added, “he has a connection to somebody you know.”
This interested William and Joy. “Who?” he asked.
“Felicity Feldman.”
Joy remembered that name! “Wasn’t she the lady that came to your house?”
But William was too involved with what Max was saying to comment on it. “What’s the connection?” he asked.
“They’re lovers.”
“Currently?”
“Currently, yes sir.”
“Have you spoken to Felicity yet?”
Max shook his head. “We would love to, but she’s nowhere to be found at this point in time. But we have several teams on it.”
“Good.”
“Is William safe?” Joy asked Max.
William looked at her. Here she was concerned abouthissafety. That impressed him.
It impressed Max too. “He is most definitely safe,” he said. “We’ve increased security around him, his home, and you as well. Seen and unseen.”
“That’s good,” said Joy, “because we don’t want anything bad to happen to him. He’s too good a man for bad things to happen to him.”
Max smiled. “Yes ma’am. We’ll make sure of it. But also, sir,” he said, turning toward William, “the trip you were talking about taking to Indiana tomorrow?”
“What about it?” Joy asked.
“That’s off the table for now. Completely. We don’t want any unknowns, and Bridell, Indiana is a big unknown.”
Joy frowned. “What do you mean unknown? I’m from there. That’s my hometown.”
“Unknown to us,” said Max, clarifying. “Unknown to our security apparatus. Until we get a clearer picture about why Mr. Skeffington was targeted, we’ve got to keep his circle as narrow as possible. That means no overseas trips. No trips period until we at least find Felicity Feldman. Or at most find whoeverwanted him targeted if it wasn’t her.” He looked at William. “Is that understood, sir?”
William knew that it was. He trusted Max’s judgement. But did Joy? “Is that understood, Joynetta?”
“If they think that’s best then absolutely. Gramps is fine. Tess is too. I’ll explain to them that I’ll be there to see them in a couple months or whenever I can get away. They’ll understand.”
